Hand held, electrically operated depilatory devices are known in the art and are utilized for removing human body hairs for cosmetic and other purposes. In general, such devices operate by engaging the subject's body hair with a moving member which member applies a removal force to the hair to uproot it. One such device is intended to engage and grip the subject's body hair with a rotating helix shaped spring. A device of this type is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,772. Another such device is intended to engage the subject's body hair between a moving and a stationery member. A device of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,253.
The techniques described in these patents and other prior art depilatory devices for removing human body hair have shortcomings, one of which is the failure to adequately remove relatively short body hairs. Engagement of body hair by the prior art moving members sufficient to assure an uprooting grip on hairs generally requires that the hair being removed be relatively long. However, when the body hair to be removed is less than about 3 mm in length, the prior art devices are generally inadequate to establish sufficient engagement with these shorter hairs in order to exert a removal force on the hair.